Elsen Academy in Port Elizabeth is proud to announce the success of its first matric class. Says Philippa Fabbri, special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) at this ISASA school in the Eastern Cape: “Attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, difficulties with numbers, poor motor coordination affecting handwriting, school anxiety and low self-esteem are just some of the challenges that these learners had to endure during their individual school careers. Coming together into one classroom at Elsen Academy, from various different schools in Port Elizabeth, they found themselves in Grade 10 together in 2010. Some had been told that because of their academic barriers, they probably wouldn’t get to matric level, but these young men and women simply did not give up.”

Five students passed the gruelling final examinations, and the results included an ‘A’ symbol for mathematical literacy. The sixth member of this tenacious group is set to write a supplementary exam in March to boost her results. “Now life really begins for these young people,” says Fabbri. One of the boys has commenced a marketing course at Boston City Campus, and one of the girls is starting a course at Elizabeth’s Beauty School.